KARACHI:
Dear Huma Khalil & Sanjeev Saraf,
Adaab,
I feel compelled to convey my heartfelt appreciation and congratulations to you for presenting such a beautiful and unforgettable programme, beginning with Rohaniyat and entering the dazzling world of Rang o Noor at the Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, Canada.
The two hours of your creative genius were much more than a musical theatrical. They were a mesmerising journey into a past that many of us carry quietly within ourselves. Through poetry, music, dance and storytelling, you opened a door to memories that I had almost forgotten I still possessed. At 77, I found myself travelling back through the corridors of my youth, revisiting a world of Urdu poetry, timeless melodies and cultural memories that once formed such an integral part of our lives.
For those two precious hours, time seemed to stand still. I was no longer sitting in a theatre in Mississauga; I was somewhere far away, in another time and another world, surrounded by the poetry and music with which an entire generation grew up. It was, for me, a deeply emotional journey of nostalgia, from which I have not really returned so far.
It reminded me of a beautiful, forgotten couplet by the late Professor and renowned poet, Professor Dr Andaleeb Shadani:
Suntay he tareekh hamesha apne ko dohraati he
Achha mera khwab-e-jawani thorra sa dohraye tou
Your Rang o Noor made that inquisitive dream come true.
What a beautiful cul-de-sac of life it turned out to be, where the past seemed to have no exit and one simply wished to remain there a little longer.
Your direction, the choice of poetry and songs, the choreography, the Kathak performances, the singers and the entire ensemble came together beautifully. The young artists from India brought extraordinary energy and grace to the stage, while the production itself retained the soul and fragrance of the Urdu tradition.
I congratulate you wholeheartedly for conceiving and directing Rang o Noor and for bringing this magnificent celebration of our shared cultural heritage to Toronto. In an age when so much of our past is rapidly disappearing from collective memory, you have given it a living, breathing form on the stage.
Thank you, Huma Sahiba and Sanjeev Sahab, for an evening that was not merely watched, but experienced, remembered and felt. Some performances end when the curtain falls. Rang o Noor, for me, did not.
What a strong footprint Rekhta has left in Greater Toronto! People will be passionately longing for your next entourage. I cannot think of a better Urdu verse than the one your late father had conceived for such a moment:
Haye wo log jinkay aanay ka
Hashr tak intezar hota he
Warm regards,
Haroon Rashid Siddiqi & family
Milton
